If you have a young child with a fondness for animals, you might have heard of Xia Xia before now. If not, it's a line of children's toys that are based on hermit crabs; children can collect lots of different shells, and each one comes with a couple of fun friends. The line has now branched out to video games, with Xia Xia for the Nintendo DS. Does this game entertain, or should it be banished to the bottom of the sea?
"GameMill Entertainment is back once again on the Nintendo DS platform overseeing development of a license-based game. This particular project revolves around the Xia-Xia brand of toy figures and playsets. In standard license game fashion, this video game adaptation is a platformer that sees some low-profile hermit crabs exploring beaches and other aquatic-themed settings without getting their shells too dirty. If this sounds like an afternoon of tropical fun, parents may wish to look into picking this up for their kids." -- Wiiloveit.com
Chris Scott writes: "There is a rule in my house, if you see it on television you cannot have it, so my wife and I were lucky enough to escape the Xia Xia toy phenomenon. Despite this fact, when I asked my eight year old daughter if she wanted to help review the Xia Xia game, she jumped at the opportunity."
Xia-Xia is a textbook example of a DS game based on a toy license. At best, it’s cute and allows younger kids to play a video game version of one of their favorite toys. At worst, it’s bland and thoroughly generic.
